


Adora vs The Princesses of Power

by MothyTheCryptid



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Adora is still She-Ra, Alternate Universe - Adora Remains with the Horde (She-Ra), Angst with a Happy Ending, Catra (She-Ra) Leaves the Horde, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Horde Adora (She-Ra), Slow Burn, except shadow weaver
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 08:09:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27600064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MothyTheCryptid/pseuds/MothyTheCryptid
Summary: Adora finds a sword in the woods, but she doesn't run into a princess and her friend. Thrust into the role of Force Captain, Adora tries to manage her responsibilities, the sword, and the space growing between her and Catra.
Relationships: Adora & Catra & Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Adora & Entrapta (She-Ra), Adora & Kyle & Lonnie & Rogelio & Scorpia (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Catra & Glimmer (She-ra)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	Adora vs The Princesses of Power

Adora crept through the Whispering Woods. “This was stupid. Stupid sword. Maybe Catra was right, maybe I did hit my head and I’m crazy for fal-oh.” Adora’s rant petered out as something glowed in the trees. She peeked through the branches and saw it. “Haha! I’m not crazy! Take that Catra!” Adora ran up to the clearing and grabbed the sword, the foliage rooting it in place easily slicing apart as she lifted it into the air. Adora’s eyes narrowed. She tested the blade against her thumb, pulling it away with a quiet yelp, as a thin line of blood appeared. Still sharp. But it looked like it had been there for a very long time. Adora narrowed her eyes. It could have been a princess trap. She was instantly on high alert, and moved into the bushes.

“Ugh Bow! There’s nothing here! Face it, your tracker’s broken. We should just head back to Brightmoon. I can teleport us.” A girl’s voice made its way through the trees

Adora’s eyes widened. Brightmoon meant princesses. She had to get out of here. Running back to the skiff, the girl’s sounded again, closer this time. “Wait. Hey Bow, did you hear something?” Adora powered the skiff up and drove away, the girl's voice fading in the distance. Adora checked the time. Perfect. If she hurried, she’d be able to hit the showers at the same time as everyone else.

Adora snuck back into the barracks and lifted her mattress and slipped the sword underneath it. She’d try to move it to her locker later on, once she was sure where Shadow Weaver was. She didn’t want to explain how she felt called to the sword. She couldn’t explain that it naturally fit in her palm, and that it sent a shiver down her spine. She couldn’t explain the words that boomed in her head, the blue figure, the woman with golden hair who was wielding the sword.

  
“Huh. So. Turns out you really weren’t brain-damaged.”

  
Adora shrieked and turned around, instinctively dropping into a fighting stance.

  
Catra cackled, “You are so easy to sneak up on. Now come on! Let me see!”

  
“Ugh, not funny Catra.” Adora scowled, even as she handed the sword over.

  
“Mmm. That’s a matter of opinion.” Catra traced a nail down the length of the blade and whistled. “So what do you think it is? Magic? Secret princess weapon?” She handed the sword back to Adora, who put it back under her mattress.

  
“I don’t know I just felt. Called to it? I guess?”

  
“So you’re a secret princess?”

  
“Ugh, no Catra.”

  
“Whatever you say princess.”

  
“Catra!” Adora pounced, sending them crashing onto the bed. “Take it back!”

  
“No! Get off-”

  
“Adora.” Shadow Weaver’s voice cut through the barracks, as Adora and Catra sprung apart. “Force Captain orientation is in half an hour. I expected you to be ready, not getting...distracted.” Shadow Weaver turned her gaze on Catra, her eyes narrowing. “See that you don’t distract Adora. I will not have you ruining her career.”

“Sure...whatever.” Catra’s ear flattened as she crossed her arms and looked away.

“Catra was just making sure I got up on time, Shadow Weaver! I was so anxious about orientation that I couldn’t sleep.”

Shadow Weaver floated closer to Adora, resting a hand on her cheek. “My Adora...you have nothing to be anxious about. I see great things in your future. I always have.” Shadow Weaver floated away, “See that you are not distracted moving forward.”

Adora sighed, looking back at Catra, whose face was pinched in anger. “Always have to be the hero, don’t you Adora?”

“What? I was just sticking up for you!”

“I don’t need your help Adora. You’re not better than me just because you’re Force Captain now!”

“I never said that!” Adora growled, throwing her hands up. “Why are you always-”

“Always what Adora?” Catra leaned into Adora’s face, blue and yellow eyes narrowed in anger, tail swishing from side to side.

Adora sighed, the fight draining from her. “Catra…” She reached out, but Catra hissed.

“Just. Go to your stupid orientation. You’re going to be late.” Before Adora could say anything, Catra had left.

Adora took a deep breath and exhaled. Catra got emotional sometimes. And she was jealous. It made sense. Shadow Weaver wasn’t the nicest, but she was fair. She looked at the door, replaying the sight of Catra’s retreating form in her mind. Soon, they would be in charge, and everything would be okay again. Force Captain was just the first step, and she and Catra would be walking side by side.

Adora walked into the room, eyes trained on the floor only to bump into someone. “Oh, sorry. I was a little distracted.” Her eyes widened as she looked into Octavia’s face. She gulped. Of course she would be here. She pretended not to notice how the tentacles on Octavia’s back tensed at the sight of her.

  
The blue woman drew herself to her full height. “Watch it brat.” Octavia pushed past Adora, who let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

  
No time like the present to bury hatchets and build bridges, right? Besides, Catra had clawed Octavia’s face 10 years ago. “Hey so, yeah. Uh. Sorry about your eye? Catra didn’t mean-”

  
Octavia cut Adora off, “You know she did.”

  
“Well. I mean, yeah. And I’m not saying you deserved it, although you kind of did…” Adora stammered as Octavia lifted an unimpressed eyebrow. “Look, all I’m saying is I hope we can work together!”

  
“Yeah, whatever.” Octavia walked around Adora, standing behind a set of chairs that were laid out in a row. Adora exhaled harshly. That...could have gone a lot better. Adora took the time to take in the room. She should’ve done that earlier, rookie mistake. Walking into unknown territory like this would have her tenure as a Force Captain end before it even began.

  
Adora sat down in one of the chairs in the front row as she glanced around. She recognized the Force Captains there, tentatively waving at Grizzlor, the beast-man towering over everyone at six feet. He stood beside Octavia, leaning casually against the wall, giving no sign that he saw Adora. Adora swallowed, focusing on her lap, rubbing her hands together quickly as she made a mental list in her head. Make a good first impression with her fellow Force Captains? Not doing the greatest. What came next? Impress Shadow Weaver, talk to Catra. Adora jumped as a heavy weight fell on her shoulder. She turned and had to look up, because-good god that woman was tall. With pincers for hands?

“Hey there! My name's Scorpia, I just wanted to check and see if you were doing okay, didn’t want to bother you or anything. You just seemed a little stressed.”

_Don’t let her see your weakness Adora._

Adora forced a smile. “I’m Adora, and yeah, I’m fine. Just got a little nervous for a second, but I got it under control.”

Scorpia laughed. “Oh, you’re doing better than me! I really have the jitters. My tail keeps on twitching.”

Adora looked behind her, to see that Scorpia’s tail was, indeed, twitching. “That uh. That seems. Safe?”

“Oh not at all. I can stun and put people to sleep for a long time. I guess that isn’t lethal, but it’s not like I’m trying to kill anybody. I mean I probably could, it might take a couple pokes or so…”

Adora turned to face forward, moving just a little bit away, as Scorpia continued to chatter.

“Force Captains.” The quiet voice of Shadow Weaver instantly commanded the attention of the room. “Welcome to the briefing. If you are new here, please find your datapads underneath your chairs before you leave. I see no reason to go over them with you as I expect you to be competent to manage that yourself.” Adora reached under her chair to pull out the datapad. A quick perusal through it detailed the various tasks she was about to undertake, including a list of hot spots of rebellion activity. Catra would tease her about being a nerd, but it helped her relax. She didn’t notice Scorpia’s elbow gently nudging her until Shadow Weaver's voice cut through her thoughts. “Adora, if you are quite finished browsing, I will announce your squad.”

“Yes Shadow Weaver, sorry.” Beside her, Scorpia winced, which Adora tried to ignore. She didn’t need pity.

“Adora, your squad will be Cadets Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio. You will be put in charge of Division 13. I expect you to find the details of your mission in your folder.” Adora bit back her automatic protest. Now wasn’t the time to argue to have Catra in her squad. She’d ask Shadow Weaver after the meeting. She settled back into her seat as Shadow Weaver began to wrap up the meeting. “As you will find in the datapad, Force Captain Scorpia is a princess, whose family chose to align with the horde.”

Adora narrowed her eyes in surprise. That was unexpected. She glanced at Scorpia scratched the back of her head nervously, shrugging when they made eye contact.

“I only mention this to reiterate the depths that the princesses will sink to. They cast out one of their own, rejecting Hordak’s vision for a better future. They are the enemy, and treacherous.” Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes, looking at each of the Force Captains, eyes lingering on Scorpia for a moment before resting on Adora, who swallowed nervously. “Adora, you will report directly to me. I will not tolerate failure. Dismissed.”

  
Adora left the room as quickly as she could. It could have definitely gone better. Octavia definitely still hated her, Grizzlor had growled at her as she got up, which was more than a little alarming. It was a bit reasonable, she supposed. After all, Hordak himself had picked Adora. They probably saw her as a threat to their own power. She wasn’t going to make any friends here.

  
“Adora, wait up!” Scorpia said, which was all the warning Adora got before she was scooped up into a warm embrace.

  
“What? Hey. Put me down.” Adora struggled against Scorpia’s grip fruitlessly.

  
Scorpia didn’t seem to register Adora’s plight. “Hey, so I just wanted to say, thanks for not freaking out about me being a princess and I’m looking forward to working with you in the future! Whenever that will be.”

  
Adora finally managed to push away from Scorpia and back up a few feet. “Uh, you’re welcome. And thanks.” She looked into Scorpia’s eyes, not seeing anything except honest support. “I’m sure we’ll make a good team.” Adora backed away slowly. “Well, I’m going to go meet with my squad, so I’ll catch you later.” She gave a quick wave ignoring Scorpia’s excited voice responding in kind, lightly jogging to put space between them.

  
After a few minutes, Adora looked around the hallway and sighed. Finally alone. Scorpia was very buff. Like, Adora was sure that Scorpia could easily bench press her and that was completely at odds with her personality. Adora felt bad for leaving so abruptly, but she really needed to be alone right now. And to find Catra to make sure she wasn’t still angry. Adora huffed angrily. Knowing Catra, she probably was.

As Adora exited the hallway and stepped outside, she thought she saw a shadow peel away from the darkness behind her. She looked around quickly, but she was clearly alone. Adora felt a a brief chill trickle down her back, but she shook her head furiously from side to side. The Fright Zone could get really cold at night. That’s all it was. She frowned. She should check and make sure the sword was still safe, that’d give her time to decompress before she went to find Catra.  
Adora rounded the corner to the barracks, coming face to face with Lonnie, nearly running into her. Lonnie put a hand on her hip, eyeing Adora. “So. How did orientation go?”

“Lonnie! Uh. I mean it went fine. Shadow Weaver was Shadow Weaver. You know how she is.” Adora curled her hair behind her ear, shifting her weight from one leg to another, cupping her elbow in her hand. “Don’t worry though. I won’t disappoint you guys. Or Shadow Weaver.”

Adora looked down, and Lonnie’s shadow stared back at her, red eyes flaring. She stifled a yelp as Lonnie nodded absently, “It was only a matter of time before you were promoted. We’ll do our best to support you.”

Adora took a quick nervous glance back at Lonnie’s shadow, which was just a normal shadow. She chuckled, a spark of confidence flashing through her eyes. “Thanks Lonnie. That means a lot.”

Lonnie shrugged, moving past Adora. “Don’t make a big deal about it. I’ll see you later. Kyle and Rogelio are somewhere, and I’m going to try and eat lunch with them.”

Adora waved goodbye to Lonnie, before walking up to her bed in the barracks. She lifted the mattress letting out a panicked groan when she saw the sword was missing. “Catra…” She hurried out of the barracks, jogging at a light pace, she was pretty sure she knew where Catra had gone. In a few minutes, she came up to the training room, where, sure enough, Catra was there, swinging the sword through holograms.

“Catra!” Adora stomped over to Catra, who squeaked as Adora grabbed her and started wrestling the sword away from her. “Why did you just take it? You should have asked.”

Catra threw her head back, smacking Adora in the face. “Get off!” Adora clutched her nose as her eyes watered. “What? I look at your fancy new “destiny sword” and you think you’re better than me?” Catra advanced on Adora, who backed up instinctively. “What? Lost for words, Force Captain?”

Adora grabbed a staff from the weapons rack, lowering herself into a fighting position as Catra advanced on her. “I don’t think I’m better than you!”

Catra tossed the sword at Adora’s feet. “Yeah, whatever. Here’s your stupid sword.” Catra roughly brushed past a stunned Adora. “Magic sword, Shadow Weaver, you just have everything handed to you on a silver platter.”

Adora lowered her staff, looking at the sword on the ground before leaving it behind and running after Catra’s retreating form. “Catra! Catra, wait.” Adora grabbed Catra’s wrist pulling her close, ignoring Catra’s hiss. “Catra. It’s the two of us, always, remember?”

Catra’s growl stuttered into a purr, as her tail wrapped around Adora’s waist. “Whatever, dummy.” She pushed away, but Adora saw the smile that crossed her face.

“Aww, Catra, was that a smile? I knew you loved me!” Adora put Catra into a headlock, rubbing her knuckles into Catra’s hair.

Catra laughed, pushing Adora off. “Such a dork.”

Adora grinned. “Wanna spar a bit? I don’t know about you but I have a lot of energy that I need to let out.” In response Catra grabbed a staff, walking over to the sword laying on the ground and tossing it over to Adora, who squealed in panic, jumping back as the sword impaled the ground at her feet. “Careful! You trying to kill me?”

Catra crouched down, tail lashing from side to side. “You’re going to have to look cooler than that if you’re going to use a sword.”

Adora picked up the sword with a huff. “I’ll have you know that coolness comes naturally to me.” They slowly circled each other. Adora studied Catra, they’d fought together long enough that when Catra lunged forward, she was already bending backward to avoid the end of the staff whistling towards her head. Adora used her falling momentum to aim a kick at Catra who easily flipped over it, landing behind her, as Adora narrowly blocked another strike with the sword. Adora laughed, feeling the day fall away as Catra sent her stumbling backwards with a bunch of quick, precise strikes that she was only able to narrowly block.

Sensing a victory, Catra surged forward, jabbing with her staff, which Adora blocked, but the momentum caused her to trip and fall backward. Catra’s smirk quickly became replaced by panic as the floor disappeared, leaving a pit that Adora was falling into. “Adora, look out!” Adora fell backward with a screech, stabbing the sword into the side of the wall, which gave way under the sword's strike. Adora had just enough time to look shocked as the shadows in the wall engulfed the sword, holding her in place. She looked up to see Catra surrounded by Shadow Weaver’s telltale red magic. She gulped. She felt herself raised from the pit with the shadows, the sword ripped from her hands and struck into the ground between her, Catra, and Shadow Weaver.

“Uh, Shadow Weaver, I can explain-” Adora started to say, only to be cut off by Shadow Weaver’s glare.

“Silence, Adora.” Shadow Weaver floated towards Catra. Red energy crackling violently as Catra screamed. “Catra, you will respect your superiors.”

“We were just sparring.” Catra managed to wheeze out before yelping as another crackle of energy shot through her body.

“Your sparring almost resulted in Adora being injured. I knew you were careless, but this is a bit much, even for an animal like you.” Shadow Weaver’s hair flowed behind her, snake-like and lashing.

“Stop!” Adora grabbed the sword, planting herself between Shadow Weaver and Catra. Shadow Weaver’s eyes widened as Adora was surrounded by a blinding white light. Catra gaped at her friend. Adora seemed to be flickering, growing and shrinking, her uniform being replaced by a white and gold outfit and back to her uniform. Catra jumped towards Adora, trying to pull her away from the sword.

  
Shadow Weaver pulled a hand back, thrusting it forward in a cutting motion. Red lightning twisted around her arm and Catra was hurled across the room and Adora was left crumpled to the floor unconscious. Shadow Weaver narrowed her eyes, “Interesting. I knew I sensed power in you...”

  
Catra struggled to her feet, wincing in pain as Shadow Weaver carried Adora out of the room. Her vision started to fade and heard Shadow Weaver’s voice in her mind, “I’ll deal with you later.” A bolt of pain went through her, and Catra slumped to the floor, her vision finally turning black. She and Adora needed to get out of here.


End file.
